Quang Tri commuters risk lives on unsafe bridges

Quang Tri (VNA) - People in the central province of Quang Tri are risking their lives commuting on old, unsafe bridges, which have been
weakened by recent floods in the locality.

Hai Lang, a remote district in the province, has 170 concrete
bridges across its canals. Forty of them were built in the 1980s and are
getting weak due to time-related deterioration and increasing number of
commuters.

Truong Hoa, a 60-year-old resident in the district’s Hai Truong commune, said he found more travellers using the nearby bridge despite its risky
status. Hoa said months ago, the bridge vibrated whenever a commuter travelled
on it, forcing locals to reinforce it through temporary measures.

Recently, residents tied steel bars with the bridge poles in an
attempt to reduce vibration on the bridge when commuters travelled on it.
Locals said many bridges in the district are in very bad condition.

A statistic report made by the district’s economy and
infrastructure division said 2,800 commuters travelled on the bridges daily. Tran
Kim Cuong, the division’s deputy head, said all these bridges were built from
1980 to 1985, with concrete, steel and wooden structures.

Cuong said the division was aware of the status of these small
bridges, but was struggling to find a sound capital source for construction of
new bridges to replace the existing ones.

According to Cuong, the district’s authorities have received no
reply yet in response to the call for capital for these bridges.-VNA